


Incendiary

by oretsev



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M, I suppose, Pre-Canon, Royai Week 2017, Young Royai, implied royai - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-12 18:39:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11167746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oretsev/pseuds/oretsev
Summary: Riza Hawkeye isn't sure what to expect when her father's apprentice wakes her up in the middle of the night and tells her to meet him in the back garden. Written for Royai Day 2017.





	Incendiary

**Author's Note:**

  * For [StarberryCupcake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarberryCupcake/gifts).



Riza stirred at the creak of her bedroom door. Propping herself up onto her elbows, she squinted into the darkness. Faint blue starlight from the window illuminated the silhouette of her father’s apprentice.

“Are you awake?” It was too dark to see his face, but Riza could hear the excitement in his voice.

“Mostly.” Riza sat up fully and passed a hand across her face. “What time is it?”

“Late. Or early, depending on how you look at it. I have something to show you.”

“Now?”

“It’s the best time. Put your shoes on and meet me in the back garden.” Riza sighed and opened her mouth to object, but Roy cut her off. “I promise it’s worth it.”

The click of the door closing prevented any further arguments.

 

* * *

 

Riza crossed her arms over her chest, chafing her hands along the sleeves of her sweater against the chill of the night. In the few minutes it had taken her to lace up her boots and slip a sweater over her nightgown, she had puzzled over what could possibly be so important that Roy would wake her at this hour. Or any hour, really. She thought back to the previous day and the calculations he’d be working on for her father. She wondered if he’d stayed up through the night, working the equations backwards and forwards, if he’d had some sort of breakthrough that he couldn’t wait to share. She hoped this wasn’t a breakthrough that would make a mess of their garden.

Rounding the corner of the house to the garden behind, she glanced around. In the darkness of the moonless night, she couldn’t see Roy. “What’s going on?” she called.

“Up here!” Riza’s eyes traced the length of an old wooden ladder up to where it leaned against the roof. Roy sat at its top, leaning down to motion her closer. “You’ll be able to see better from here.”

Slowly, reluctantly, Riza began climbing the ladder, inspecting each rung for stability; she knew it had to be older than she was. “You’d better have a good explanation for this when I get up there.” Her tone was more perplexed than perturbed.

“When you get up here I won’t need to explain.”

Riza cocked an eyebrow, but continued, hand over hand, up the ladder. As she neared the top, Roy extended a hand to help her up. “The shingles by the edge are a bit loose,” he warned.

A blanket was arranged beneath his seated form, and another sat folded beside him. Roy edged to side, allowing Riza enough room to take a seat. Inclining his head towards hers, he pointed upward.

“The stars?” she asked. She glanced at him, looking for confirmation.

“Give it a minute.”

Riza turned her gaze back to the atmosphere. Without the moon, the stars shone sharply against the velvety darkness. She was about to ask again what she was supposed to be seeing when a filament of light streaked across the sky.

“Did you see that?” Riza whispered, turning to look at the boy next to her.

“Mmhmm,” he murmured without taking his eyes off the sky. “And there’s more. Hundreds, probably.”

“I’ve never seen a falling star before,” Riza said softly.

“Me either,” Roy confessed. “The city lights are so bright you can barely see regular stars. Ah, there! Did you see it?” Next to him, Riza nodded.

“Oh!” Riza’s arm shot up, pointing to the east. “There was two at once!”

Roy groaned. “I missed it.”

They were each silent, eyes wide and scanning the sky for the next thread of starlight.

After a few moments Riza asked, “Did you know it would be tonight?”

Roy nodded. “It’s listed in the almanac. I’ve always wanted to see a meteor shower but I’ve never been somewhere where they were visible.”

“I didn’t know they could predict them,” Riza confessed. She pointed wordlessly at another fleeting brightness.

“They happen about the same time every year. We’re lucky it’s a new moon and there are no clouds tonight.”

Riza hummed her agreement. After another paused, she spoke again. “Thank you for waking me. I’m sorry I was short with you earlier.”

Roy chuckled. “You weren’t short with me. I’d woken you up in the middle of the night and you were reasonably confused given my intentional withholding of information.” The corners of his lips tilted upwards and he gestured at a particularly bright meteor. “But you’re welcome.”

“Are they coming more frequently?” Riza asked as another burst of light shot across the sky.

“I think so.” Roy felt Riza shift next to him. He turned to see her wrapping her arms around herself. “Here,” he said, pulling the second quilt from where it sat at his other side. “I thought we might get cold if we stayed out here very long.” He settled the blanket across their shoulders.

“You’ve just thought of everything, haven’t you?” Riza teased lightly.

“I didn’t want to get forced inside by the cold and miss the show.”

The brightest meteor yet gleamed through the sky, leaving a tail that glowed for several seconds in its wake. “Oh,” Riza breathed.

The tail of the meteor faded, and Roy turned to look at Riza, who’s eyes were still turned skyward. Her short hair was mussed in back, and the collar of her flannel nightdress stuck out at an angle from the neckline of her thick sweater. Roy smiled to himself; he so rarely saw her in any state other than her usual careful order. Then again, he rarely woke her in the small hours of the morning.

A flicker at the corner of his vision drew his attention back to the heavens. Several meteors streaked across the sky in quick succession.

“The vastness of the sky unsettles me to think about,” Riza said, breaking their silence.

“The endlessness,” Roy agreed. “A human being is so insignificant in comparison. Almost nothing.”

“Maybe to the stars,” Riza conceded. “I suppose it’s a good thing we live here on earth.”

“It does have its perks.”

 

* * *

 

Nearly two hours passed before the incendiary rain slowed to a trickle and finally faded altogether. The two sat in silence, letting the minutes pass, unwilling to admit that they had seen their last falling star.

“You’d better get some rest,” Riza said at last.

“You as well.”

Each with a blanket draped over an arm, they picked their way down the ladder with fingers stiff from the cold. Slowly so as not to stumble in the dark, they made a path towards the door and carefully opened it. Riza stopped at the doorway to listen for any sign that her father had woken. Hearing nothing, they slipped inside and up the stairs.

Riza unlaced her shoes and slid them off. Padding to the window in her stockings, she pulled aside the curtain, peering at the sky for one last chance to glimpse a meteor. Seeing only the usual, static stars, she let the curtain fall back into place. She wasn’t disappointed. She wouldn’t have wanted to see one without him.

**Author's Note:**

> A very loose take on the prompt "Incendiary" for Royai Day 2017. Of course it's young!Royai.
> 
> After promising a gift for one of my most darling friends for Royai Day this year, I struggled for weeks to come up with an idea that felt right. Tonight, I suddenly remembered this idea that I had years ago but never wrote. I sat down and pumped this out in about three hours, and it's really only been proof-read once. Hopefully I've caught most of the mistakes, but I'm really happy with how naturally it felt to get back into writing and I'm so satisfied to have finished a piece in one sitting. Thank you so much for giving me a push, Luly. I hope you enjoy!


End file.
